Chitosan-modified ZnO/MgO nanocarrier for controlled paclitaxel delivery and cytotoxicity evaluation in MCF-7 cells

Breast cancer treatment often involves the administration of paclitaxel (PTX), a chemotherapy drug. Recently, there has been growing interest in utilizing metal nanoparticles (NPs) to deliver PTX to cancerous cells. In this study, a novel chitosan-coated ZnO/MgO nanocarrier (ZnO/MgO-CS) was engineered for the efficient adsorptive separation and pH-responsive release of PTX. Thermogravimetric analysis indicated a coating of 85%, and the chitosan layer significantly enhanced the drug loading efficiency to 98.53%. The adsorption capacity of the nanocarrier reached 76.54 mg/g within 14 min, following the Ho and McKay adsorption kinetics (R2 > 0.99), suggesting a chemisorption-driven separation mechanism. The impact of argon cold plasma treatment on adsorption performance was also assessed. Drug release studies revealed a biphasic release profile: an initial burst release followed by sustained release, with nearly 97% cumulative release after 24 hours. The release behavior conformed to Korsmeyer-Peppas and Peppas-Korsmeyer kinetic models, indicating diffusion-controlled separation. Morphological analysis confirmed a mesoporous structure with uniform pore distribution. Cytotoxicity evaluation via MTT assay demonstrated that the synthesized carrier maintained biocompatibility while enhancing the therapeutic impact of PTX against MCF-7 breast cancer cells. These results highlight the potential of ZnO/MgO-CS as a promising nanoplatform for selective separation and sustained release of anticancer agents.